Potton is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is 10 miles (17 kilometres) from Bedford and the population in 2001 was 4,473 people. In 1783 the 'Great Fire of Potton' destroyed a large part of the town. The parish church dates from the 13th Century and is dedicated to St Mary. Potton's horse fairs were some of the largest in the country.

The 'Great Fire of Potton' started in a stack of clover in a field in the area of what is now Spencer Close in 1783. King Street, half the Market Square and some of the Brook End area were destroyed. It was reported to have burned for a day. Local people raised £6,000 to help those most in need.[2] Providing temporary accommodation in nearby fields for the townsfolk alone cost £25,000.[3] The 13th Century parish church, St Mary's, survived, however. Rebuilding after the fire has left the town with a number of Georgian buildings.[2]

King William II granted a market in 1094; it may have been held in the churchyard before moving to the site of the modern Market Square in the 13th Century.[2] Potton's market was one of the largest in Bedfordshire in the Tudor and Stuart periods, but it declined after the Great Fire.[2] Corn and straw plait were the principal goods in 1831.[3]

The fair was granted by Henry II in 1227; as of 1831, fairs were held on the third Tuesday in January, the last Tuesday in April, first Tuesday in July and the Tuesday before the 29 October.[3] The horse fairs were some of the largest in the country, but ended in 1932.[2]

'The Shambles' provided folding market stalls in the town square before brick buildings were put in place by Samuel Whitbread, the Lord of the Manor, in 1797. They became dilapidated in the 1930s and were demolished after the Second World War, with a modern library built in their place. The Clock House was opened on 23 July 1956 and utilised The Shambles' clock, illuminated dials and bell. In spring 2006 the mechanism was replaced with an automatic winding system costing £3,000.[2]

Sir Malcolm Stewart, Potton's last Lord of the Manor, set up the Land Settlement Association (LSA) in 1935 and gave houses and land to cultivate to unemployed men and their families. Many were former miners from Durham before the LSA began to favour families with agricultural knowledge.[2]

Potton Manor was built in the 1860s. It was requesitioned by the armed forces[8] and used as a laboratory during the war and as a car factory by Eva Pokorova and Otto van Smekal. The Champion car built in Potton was purchased from the National Motor Museum by Potton History Society, whose aim it is to restore the vehicle to full working order. The house was finally demolished in the early 1980s.[2]

On 18 September 1945, a B-24 Liberator bomber crashed on the southern edge of Potton Wood.[9] Four men were killed; the place where it fell can still be seen.[10]

Potton is 10 miles (17 kilometres) east of the county town of Bedford, 15 miles (24 km) south-west of Cambridge and 43 miles (69 km) north of London. It is on the B1042 road between the town of Sandy, to the west, and the village of Gamlingay, to the north.[13]

The parish ranges from 81 metres, in the east, to 33 metres above sea level, in the south-west.[14]Potton Wood, managed by the Forestry Commission, is in the south-east part of the parish.[10]

Potton Sands is a geological formation whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.

At the time of the 2001 census, Potton had 4,473 inhabitants living in 1,869 households. The ethnic origin of 95.5% was British. 73.9% were Christian, 1.3% followed another religion and 24.9% stated no religion or were not religious.[15]

Potton has a cricket club, Potton Town Cricket Club also based at The Hollow on Biggleswade Road. Both Junior and Senior cricket is played. The adult section runs two teams competing in the Saracens Hertfordshire League [1] on Saturdays and The Bedfordshire Cricket League http://bedsccl.play-cricket.com/leaguetables/competitions.asp on Sundays. The club also enter midweek competitions.

The parish church stands a short distance from the town centre on a small hill. It has a chancel, a nave, aisles and north porch, and a western tower with circular turret containing six bells. A separate cemetery was established in 1880, west of the town on the road to Sandy.[3]

Potton had its own brewery from around 1784[8] until 1922 when it was bought by the Bedford brewery of Newland & Nash. This company subsequently closed the brewery in Potton and sold the site to the Co-operative Society (the original buildings remain intact). In 1998 brewing returned to Potton when the current Potton Brewery Company was re-established.[17] The town is also home to Potton Homes, who specialise in mock Tudor style property developments.

Despite noteworthy local businesses, the town remains very much a commuter town; the majority of people in Potton commute daily to either London, via rail, or to Cambridge.